SAS Traffic figures - March 2021
Continued strict travel restrictions, but Easter holidays lead to increase in travel during March.
In March 310,000 passengers flew with SAS, an increase of about 40% compared with February, but almost 70% lower than the same month last year. The increased demand led to an improvement in the load factor compared with February by 5 percentage points to 31%. The load factor continues to be generally higher on SAS’ Scandinavian and European traffic and amounted to 44% in March, which is an improvement of 2 percentage points compared with February.
“The number of passengers and future bookings has increased during the month, but from very low levels. The development of the demand for air travel is entirely dependent on ongoing vaccinations and that travel restrictions can be eased and coordinated between countries and regions. Although the market for the aviation industry remains challenging, we succeeded in securing favorable financing agreements for future deliveries of aircraft from Airbus during the month. The new aircraft take us toward a unified fleet with significantly lower fuel consumption and emissions,” says Rickard Gustafson, CEO of SAS.
| SAS scheduled traffic | Mar21 | Change1 | Nov20- Mar21 | Change1 |
| ASK (Mill.) | 865 | -62,2% | 4 285 | -74,0% |
| RPK (Mill.) | 266 | -76,1% | 1 243 | -88,4% |
| Passenger load factor | 30,8% | -17,9 p u | 29,0% | -36,0 p u |
| No. of passengers (000) | 313 | -68,6% | 1,536 | -83,2% |
| Geographical development, schedule | Mar21 vs. Mar20 | Nov20- Mar21 vs. Nov19-Mar20 | ||
| RPK | ASK | RPK | ASK | |
| Intercontinental | -92,3% | -50,3% | -96,3% | -75,8% |
| Europe/Intrascandinavia | -82,8% | -81,6% | -90,9% | -84,8% |
| Domestic | -41,6% | -36,8% | -67,6% | -46,0% |
| SAS charter traffic | Mar21 | Change1 | Nov20- Mar21 | Change1 |
| ASK (Mill.) | 6 | -94,7% | 32 | -96,1% |
| RPK (Mill.) | 2 | -96,9% | 12 | -98,3% |
| Load factor | 40,8% | -30,6 p u | 38,6% | -50,7 p u |
| No. of passengers (000) | 1 | -97,6% | 3 | -98,6% |
| SAS total traffic (scheduled and charter) | Mar21 | Change1 | Nov20- Mar21 | Change1 |
| ASK (Mill.) | 870 | -63,6% | 4 317 | -75,0% |
| RPK (Mill.) | 268 | -77,4% | 1 256 | -89,0% |
| Load factor | 30,8% | -18,8 p u | 29,1% | -37,1 p u |
| No. of passengers (000) | 313 | -69,3% | 1,539 | -83,6% |
1 Change compared to same period last year. p u = percentage units
| Preliminary yield and PASK | Mar21 | Nominal change | FX adjusted change |
| Yield, SEK | 1.29 | 26.7% | 32.7% |
| PASK, SEK | 0.40 | -19.9% | -16.1% |
| Mar21 | |||
| Punctuality (arrival 15 min) | 90.8% | ||
| Regularity | 99.4% | ||
| Change in total CO2 emissions, rolling 12 months | -81.1% | ||
| Change in CO2 emissions per available seat kilometer | -9.3% | ||
| Carbon offsetting of passenger related emissions | 47% |
Definitions:
RPK – Revenue passenger kilometers
ASK – Available seat kilometers
Load factor – RPK/ASK
Yield – Passenger revenues/RPK (scheduled)
PASK – Passenger revenues/ASK (scheduled)
Change in CO2 emissions per available seat kilometers – SAS passenger related carbon emissions divided with total available seat kilometers (incl. non-revenue and EuroBonus), rolling 12 months
Carbon offsetting of passenger related emissions – Share of SAS passenger related carbon emissions compensated by SAS (EuroBonus members, youth tickets and SAS' staff travel)
From fiscal year 2020 we report change in CO2 emissions in total and per Available Seat Kilometers (ASK) to align with our overall goal to reduce our total CO2 emissions by 25% by 2025, compared to 2005.
For further information, please contact:
SAS press office, +46 8 797 29 44
Michel Fischier, VP Investor Relations, +46 70 997 06 73
SAS, Scandinavia’s leading airline, with main hubs in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, is flying to destinations in Europe, USA and Asia. Spurred by a Scandinavian heritage and sustainable values, SAS aims to be the global leader in sustainable aviation. We will reduce total carbon emissions by 25 percent by 2025, by using more sustainable aviation fuel and our modern fleet with fuel-efficient aircraft. In addition to flight operations, SAS offers ground handling services, technical maintenance and air cargo services. SAS is a founder member of the Star Alliance™, and together with its partner airlines offers a wide network worldwide. Learn more at https://www.sasgroup.net
This is information that SAS AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication by Michel Fischier at 11:00 a.m. CET on 12 April 2021.